Kirk Cousins has earned more respect

Good Will Hunting is full of fantastic moments. The movie has countless memorable scenes and one-liners. One scene comes to mind when thinking of Kirk Cousins. The scene goes as follows.

Will Hunting stared at the ground. He was in the middle of a therapy session with college professor Sean Maguire. The context of the scene is irrelevant. All that matters is the dialogue.

“It’s not your fault,” Maguire told Hunting.

“I know,” Hunting responded, brushing off the comment.

“No, it’s not your fault,” Maguire repeated.

“I know,” Hunting said again.

Maguire told Hunting it was not his fault six more times until he finally broke through. Hunting broke down crying. He needed to hear it. All he wanted was for someone to understand.

Kirk Cousins, it’s not your fault. I see that know, and I hope you do too.

The Minnesota Vikings suffered a 37-30 loss to the Seahawks on Monday night. Naturally, people were quick to blame the Vikings quarterback. Stop it.

Did Kirk Cousins fumble the ball inside deep inside his own territory? Did Cousins have a pass go through his hands that ended up getting picked off? Did Kirk Cousins allow the Seahawks for over 200 yards on the ground and gain over 400 yards total? No, no he did not.

After the game, ESPN quickly posted Cousins’ poor Monday night football record. Comment sections are filled with jokes and backlash, despite the fact Cousins almost pulled off an unthinkable comeback for the second time in two weeks. Just stop it.

After the Vikings’ Week 3 loss to the Packers, I blasted Cousins. Like many other Viking fans, I was frustrated. Minnesota outplayed Green Bay for three out of four quarters, but a boneheaded interception by Cousins deep in the fourth quarter sealed the Vikings fate.

I was fed up. At the time, Cousins was playing like just another guy. Not the 84 million dollar quarterback the Vikings expected him to be. His Green Bay performance was followed up two weeks later with another uninspiring start, this time against the Chicago Bears.

The Vikings were embarrassed twice in three weeks. Both times against divisional opponents on the road. I completely blamed the quarterback. I put it all on Cousins’ shoulders. What I forgot is football is indeed a team game.

In the Green Bay game, the Vikings defense allowed Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to shoot out to a quick 21-0 lead. In the Bears game, the Vikings offensive line was leaky and let the Bears defensive front eat them alive. Oh and Bears backup Chase Daniel looked like Joe Montana at times against Minnesota.

Did Cousins play well? No, not necessarily. However, to suggest he was the only problem was wrong. The Vikings were simply outplayed and outcoached.

Now Cousins arguably outplays Russell Wilson on the road in front of a national audience, but his team loses because Mike Zimmer’s defense couldn’t stop a pop warner offense and it’s his fault? Give me a break.

As a passer, Cousins has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for this season. He is in the top five in the NFL for passing touchdowns, touchdown/interception ratio, average yards per pass and completion percentage. He is top in the league in passer rating.

Also, please joke more about how bad Cousins’ contract is. Carson Wentz has signed a huge contract this offseason with over 20 million more in guarantees than Cousins. Jared Goff signed for more guaranteed money than both Wentz and Cousins.

So why is nobody talking about their contracts? Goff and Wentz have looked lost for long stretches and games this season. They not have played like the quarterback they are being paid to be.

Before excuses start being made remember that Cousins has been without Adam Thielen for nearly a month, lost his left tackle for the second half of the Seattle game and has been forced to pick up the slack from a defense that can’t stop anyone lately.

He has his team in a great position to make the playoffs with four games to play.

It’s not Kirk Cousins’ fault. He’s part of the solution, not the problem.